What about the men? Frankly, it depends why you're asking

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, a recurring refrain may be heard: “What about men?”

Behind this testy question is an impression that focusing on women and girls is squeezing out attention to the needs of men and boys, with destructive consequences. Some of the most strident calls to concentrate on men – especially young, socially isolated men – come from within the humanitarian sector, where long overdue reforms have sought to address women and girls’ vulnerability to sexual violence, and their need for safe spaces and employment, even in displacement and flight.

Since the late 1980s, feminists – both male and female – have recognised the need to involve men in the struggle for equality, and to combat notions of masculinity built on the domination of women and gender violence. At the same time, it has been understood that, because of historical and deep-rooted discrimination against women, female empowerment has to be at the heart of these efforts.

Yet there is no doubt that men and boys have many needs and face potential threats and discrimination because of their gender and age. And these threats increase during displacement. The most salient relate to the shock of losing things that they see as defining their gender role – jobs, wives – and the typecasting of single young men, particularly Muslim men, as “violent troublemakers”. This can be profoundly destabilising and have a devastating impact in terms of addiction, self-harm, and harm to others.

Source: theguardian